By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
For some reason, in the wake of the Siyum Hashas, we have been inundated with feel-good stories about Yiddishkeit, many involving gentile policemen and the like. The storylines are basically the same: We behaved so well at the Siyum Hashas that troopers and stadium staff are commending us.
We are supposed to feel better about ourselves because people who man a stadium for sports events and concerts said that the Jews who came together for the serious and elevated purpose of celebrating the Daf Yomi cycle’s completion of Shas were better behaved than those who come to revel in Hellenistic entertainment, often ingesting spirits to induce the desired revelry.

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New audio has revealed a dramatic and bad-tempered exchange between 2020 liberal Democratic rivals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders at the end of Tuesday night’s Iowa debate.
The audio from CNN, which hosted the debate, showed Warren, a senator for Massachusetts, accusing Sanders of calling her “a liar” after the Vermont senator denied during the debate that he told her in a private conversation in 2018 that he did not believe a woman could win the White House.
“I think you called me a liar on national TV,” Warren said.

AMUD ALEF:

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In a historic first, Israel began exporting natural gas to Egypt on Wednesday according to the terms of a landmark agreement between the two countries.
The Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings is purchasing 85 billion cubic meters of gas, worth $19.5 billion, from Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar offshore fields in a 15-year deal, Reuters reported.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart Tarek el-Molla announced the event in Cairo on Wednesday morning. The two energy ministers released a joint statement saying that the beginning of gas export from Israel to Egypt was an “important development” that would “serve the interests of both sides,” Israel Hayom reported.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced a temporary ban on firearms and other weapons on the grounds of the state Capitol Wednesday, saying he was taking precautions in response to credible threats.
The governor, a Democrat, is declaring a state of emergency from Friday evening to Tuesday night and prohibiting weapons on Capitol grounds, including firearms, sticks, bats, chains.
The move comes just days after the Virginia legislature’s newly empowered Democratic majority banned guns from the Capitol building and an adjacent legislative office building. And it comes just ahead of a gun rights rally planned for Monday, which organizers say could draw tens of thousands to Capitol Square.

Rav Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller, author of Ketzos Hachoshen, Avnei Miluim, and Shev Shmaatsa (1813)
Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, the Kesav Sofer (1815-1872). Born and died in Pressburg, Hungary, oldest son of the Chasam Sofer and grandson of Rav Akiva Eiger via his mother, Rebetzen Sorel. After his father’s death in 1839, the Ksav Sofer succeeded him as Rav and Rosh Yeshiva in Pressburg, at the unusually young age of 24. He served Pressburg for 33 years, the exact number of years his father had served before him.
Rav Menachem Mendel Zaks, son-in-law of the Chafetz Chaim
Today in History – 19 Teves
·       The Catholic Church in Recife, Brazil closed the two existing shuls , 1638.

A cutlery company has created a range of knives with blunt tips in response to knife crime statistics in the UK.
In October 2019, it was reported that knife crime had reached a record high in England and Wales, with more than 44,000 offenses involving a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by police in the 12 months leading up to June.
In a bid to tackle knife crime, British cutlery and kitchenware firm Viners, which was founded in Sheffield in 1901, has designed a new range of knives with square ends.
The company says the range, named the “Assure collection,” has been created “in response to rising knife crime statistics and new government legislation.”

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President Donald Trump celebrated news of a group of migrants getting “stuck” trying to climb over a section of his new border wall, branding the incident a “beautiful sight” during a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Speaking to a packed crowd, Trump told supporters that “two days ago, illegal aliens with drugs on their back were climbing the wall” and “couldn’t get off.”