Egypt reopened a historic synagogue on Friday in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria after a yearslong government renovation. But only a handful of Jews remain from Egypt’s once-thriving community, most of them elderly. The country’s Jews largely left more than 60 years ago amid the hostilities between Egypt and Israel. The two-story Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria partially collapsed in 2016. Antiquities officials said the renovations, which began the following year, prevented it from becoming a total loss. The site has a long history. An earlier synagogue dating to 1354 AD was built in the same location, and the current building dates to roughly 1881, when the Jewish community was large and influential. Marble floors and rose-colored columns line the main hall.

At a time when security and safety is at the forefront of conversations and consciousness in the Jewish community, a special moment occurred at the Yeshiva Darchei Torah dinner in Far Rockaway this week, making waves well beyond the yeshiva neighborhood. Early in the dinner program, Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva of Darchei Torah, approached the podium and made a surprise award presentation to Mr. Everett Fortune, the Yeshiva’s veteran chief of security. Mr. Fortune, who is not Jewish, has over the last 30 years earned the trust and friendship of the Yeshiva’s students, staff, and parent body as he has devotedly overseen its growing security needs. Visibly surprised and moved, Mr. Fortune was at a loss for words.

New York City will install 100 new security cameras in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in an effort to prevent anti-Semitic attacks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday. Fear has gripped the city’s Orthodox Jewish community since the the fatal Dec. 10 attack at a kosher grocery store across the Hudson River in Jersey City and the Dec. 29 stabbings at a Hanukkah celebration in suburban Monsey. The new cameras will be installed in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park, where Hasidic Jewish residents have reported attacks ranging from someone pulling off a wig or hat to more violent assaults. “An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all New Yorkers,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement.

According to the annual intelligence assessment issued by the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate and presented to the political echelon on Tuesday morning, Iran is continuing to process Uranium at a slow pace and will be capable of enriching enough material within a year to produce one nuclear bomb. The presentation of the assessment report was delayed a week because of the high alert level caused by the killing of Qassem Soleimani by the United States. The assessment added that while the bomb would only take the Ayatollahs one year to produce the production of a missile capable of deploying the bomb would take another two years at least.

Israel’s  Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is weighing the possibility of dropping the case against Shas leader Aryeh Deri due to a lack of sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial. It was recommended by both the police and the former District Attorney Shai Nitzan, that Deri, who is suspected of the crimes of fraud, breach of trust, tax evasion and perjury, be brought to trial. Mandelblit has instructed numerous times in the past week to have the case brought to the District Attorney’s Office so that they can finish their investigation. the final decision is expected to be made in the coming weeks according to a report that was presented by Channel 13 News on Tuesday. The police investigation into Deri’s suspected misdeeds was conducted and finished two years ago.

Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn filed court papers Tuesday to him withdraw his guilty plea, saying federal prosecutors had acted in “bad faith” and breached their deal with him in the Russia investigation. The request comes one week after the Justice Department changed its position on Flynn’s punishment by recommending that he serve up to six months in prison for lying to the FBI during its investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Prosecutors had earlier said Flynn was entitled to avoid prison time because of his extensive cooperation, but they changed their view after he hired new lawyers who leveled accusations of misconduct against the government. (AP)

A 19-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl was the latest victim of an anti-Semitic incident in New York, and once again, the suspects were members of the black community – not Trump supporters as NY elected officials continue to blame. According to BoroPark24, the incident occurred on a packed F train in Manhattan, and the vicious abuse lasted nearly 10 minutes. What might be as bad as the actual incident – or maybe even worse – was the fact that only one person came to her aid and sat down next to her. Among the expletives & obscenities hurled at the Midwood resident was “you people vote for Trump” and “I would hurt you but you people go straight to the police”. The NYPD is investigating the incident. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The two people who fatally shot a police officer then killed three people at a kosher grocery in Jersey City planned an assault for some time and were equipped to cause greater destruction, authorities said Monday. State and federal law enforcement officials revealed details about the months leading up to the shootings by David Anderson and Francine Graham, a couple who expressed hatred of Jews and law enforcement in notes left at the grocery shooting scene and in online posts. “This was a senseless and cowardly act,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Anderson, 47, and Graham, 50, shot and killed Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals in a chance meeting in a cemetery Dec.

Syria is blaming Israel for an an attack on its T-4 base Tuesday night. As usual, the SANA News Agency is reporting that Syrian air defenses intercepted the strike which they are blaming on Israel The official quoted by the state news agency SANA said the attack targeted the T-4 air base in Homs province shortly after 10 p.m. local time. The official said the attack only caused material damage to the base, saying most rockets were intercepted while only four landed in the targeted area. Some reports state the attack was carried out by warplanes that fired a barrage of missiles at the base, while other reports state it was carried out by drones and missiles.

A flight that had just taken off from LAX reportedly dumped jet fuel on an elementary school playground in Cudahy, California, after it needed to make an emergency landing back at the airport, Tuesday.. First responders were called to the scene in the 8000 block of Park Avenue around 12:30 PM local time. It is believed the school is Park Avenue Elementary. Fire officials said they were ‘assessing multiple patients’ as children were on the playground. Delta Flight 89 was en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai when it reported engine failure, made an emergency fuel dump and then returned safely to Los Angeles International Airport, according to initial social media reports. (Source: Breaking911.com)