It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Hagaon Rav Meir Herskowitz zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Bais Binyomin of Stamford. He was 89.
Rav Hershkowitz was one of the gedolei roshei yeshiva and gedolei hador of America. A prized talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, Rav Hershkwitz had a profound impact on talmidim over many decades of harbotzas haTorah.
His humility and tzidkus were matched by his ahavas haTorah and ahavas Hashem, as he served as a guiding light in the Torah world.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss zt”l, gaon av bais din of the Badatz of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim. He was 96. Rav Weiss was niftar on Friday night at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Yerushalayim.
Born in August 1926 in Slovakia, he was a son of R’ and Mrs. Shlomo Weiss. R’ Shlomo was a timber merchant. Rav Tuvia attended the local secular school in the mornings and learned with a private melamed in the afternoons.
Before World War II, he escaped Slovakia on a Kindertransport, leaving his parents and family behind. He arrived with the Kindertransport in London in late May of 1939, after Shavuos.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Rav Uri Zohar zt”l, the legendary leader of the teshuvah movement.
Rav Zohar was born on November 4, 1935 in Tel Aviv. In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe. His first marriage ended in divorce.
By 1956, he was a popular stand-up comedian. In 1960, he studied philosophy at the Hebrew University of Yerushalayim.
In the 1960s, he directed and starred in Israeli films. In the late 1970s, the Jewish world was changed forever when Rav Zohar turned to Yiddishkeit. In 1977, he began wearing a yarmulka on the television game show he was hosting.

An armed man holding a rabbi and congregants hostage at a Texas Reform synagogue is demanding that US authorities release his convicted terrorist sister, the NY Post reports.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rav Yosef Yitzchok Feigelstock zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Mesivta of Long Beach.
Rav Feigelstock, one of the ziknei roshei yeshivos in the United States, was a member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisroel of America.
Rav Feigelstock was a son of Rav Avrohom Feiglestock. He learned in his younger years at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, becoming a leading talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, who held Rav Feigelstock in tremendously high esteem.

Two Chassidim have died and over 100 of others have been injured in a bleacher collapse at the Stoliner Bais Medrash in Givat Zev today, Erev Shavuos, as hundreds had gathered for an event celebrating the opening of the new Stoliner bais medrash.
Shortly after the commencement of the tish, the bleachers towards the back of the bais medrash gave way, sending dozens of Chassidim falling through the air in frightening fashion.
The scope and severity of the injuries are not clear at this time.

1:29 PM ET: Fresh rocket launches are reported in the Gaza periphery, as are Iron Dome interceptions. Walla news reports that one rocket hit a structure in a kibbutz. There were no people there at the time.

Two women have been killed and several other people wounded by a direct rocket hit on a home in Ashkelon.
A paramedic tells Channel 12 that of those wounded, one person is in critical condition and five others lightly hurt in the attack.

Hamas terrorists in Gaza have fired a salvo of rockets at Central Israel moments ago, with at least 4 explosions heard in Yerushalayim and 5 in Beit Shemesh. It isn’t yet known whether any of the rockets were intercepted or landed in populated areas.
The rocket attack marks the first time Yerushalayim has been targeted with rockets since the 2014 Gaza war.
Update 11:20 AM ET: A fresh round of rockets have reportedly been fired at Sderot and other towns bordering the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage have been reported.
Update 11:27 AM ET: Police have cleared the Kosel plaza and halted all Yom Yerushalayim activities in light of the rocket fire from Gaza targeting the city.