Two more people have suffered severe medical complications due to contracting the flu. A 38-year-old woman who is in her 15th week of pregnancy was suffering from severe shortness of breath and was taken to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with suffering from the Flu. The woman, who received a flu vaccination last week, was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. According to studies done, the flu vaccination offers protection from the virus after approximately three weeks from the time it was received. In a separate incident, a 57-year-old man with a preexisting condition was hospitalized after suffering severe shortness of breath and he too was diagnosed as suffering from the flu.

Why did Harav Chaim Kanievsky recite the brachos at the bris instead of the father? A half a year ago, Shai Gabai, Z”L, a 36-year-old resident of Givat Olga, a neighborhood in the city of Hadera, was killed while on duty at an IDF base in Tel Hashomer. Last week, his wife gave birth to a baby boy. The askan Rav Eli Brauner, who is close to Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, arranged for the Gadol Hador to serve as the sandak at the bris. Additionally, Harav Chaim also recited the brachos in place of the father. Those who attended the bris, which took place at the Lederman shul, said that there wasn’t a dry eye at the bittersweet event.

A man is undergoing surgery after a pit-bull attack in Spring Valley, Tuesday afternoon. Chaverim of Rockland tell YWN that at around 4:00PM, a vicious loose pit-bull attacked a young girl and a baby walking on Hoyt Street near West Street. The dog first attacked the girl, and tried to drag the baby away from her. A brave Rockland Chaverim volunteer who lives on the street heard the screams, and ran over and tried getting the baby out of the dogs mouth. The dog would not let go, so the Chaverim member used a knife to cut the baby’s coat to let her free. As soon as the dog lost its grip, the dog ran to a Jewish man standing nearby and viciously chomped down on his hand – literally locking his jaw on the man.

The Siyum HaShas events around the world continue, as thousands continue to pack each event. On Tuesday evening, around 10,000 Jews joined together at the Wembley Arena in London for the Agudath Israel Siyum Hashas. The event is arguably one of the largest gatherings of (if not the largest) Orthodox Jews in a single location in Europe since the Holocaust. Below are videos and photos of the massive event: (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The post London: Thousands Pack Wembley Arena For Siyum HaShas [VIDEOS & PHOTOS] appeared first on The Yeshiva World.

Iran says it has launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at Iraq’s Ain Assad air base housing U.S. troops over America’s killing of a top Iranian general. State TV described it early Wednesday as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack in Iraq. The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. “We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” The Guard said. It also threatened Israel. U.S. forces could not be immediately reached for comment.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s attendance at the funeral of Iran’s Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in Tehran on Monday has raised the ire of Egyptian and Saudi leaders, who firmly told Haniyeh that they were opposed to his participation in the funeral. Furthermore, Egyptian media reported on Tuesday that Egypt allowed Haniyeh to leave Gaza in December on his first regional political trip since his 2017 election on the condition that Haniyeh would not visit Iran or meet with any Iranian officials. Egyptian sources said that Haniyeh’s violation of his promise will lead to a severe crisis in Egypt’s relationship with Hamas.

Dozens of people were crushed to death and hundreds were injured in a stampede at the burial procession of Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani on Tuesday. Iranian state television reported that Soleimani’s burial was delayed due to a stampede in Soleimani’s hometown of Kernan in southeastern Iran, as hundreds of thousands of Iranians gathered to join the burial procession, some shouting “Death to America.” State TV reported the death toll of 56, with 213 injured. There was no information as to what had set off the stampede. Online videos showed people lying apparently lifeless, their faces covered by clothing. Emergency crews performed CPR on others as people wailed in the background, crying out to God.

Chabad shluchim around the world were warned to be on “high alert” following the elimination of Iran’s Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani, a JTA report said. The Chabad-Lubavitch Security Commission wrote an email after the US airstrike which killed Soleimani, warning that Chabad centers could be targeted by the Islamic Republic in retaliation attacks. The email was also published on a website for Chabad shluchim. “Soleimani’s death will likely mark a major escalation in a simmering conflict between the U.S. and Iran and there is a strong likelihood that Iran will retaliate whether directly or indirectly,” the email stated.

A storm of criticism and reactions arose on Israeli media on Tuesday about the remarks of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Harav Yitzchak Yosef on non-Jewish immigrants to Israel, which he stated last week at a rabbinical conference. The Israeli news website Yediot Aharonot published a video on Tuesday morning in which Harav Yosef is seen bemoaning the “hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands” of non-Jewish immigrants that moved to Israel under the amended Law of Return, which allows non-Jewish spouses, children, grandchildren and spouses of children and grandchildren to immigrate to Israel. Rav Yosef said that many of the non-Jews are haters of religion and they vote for parties which incite against Chareidim and religion and that we’re unfortunately seeing the results of their incitement.

Hagaon HaRav Dov Sternbuch, zt’l, of Bnei  Brak was suddenly niftar on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 96. HaRav Dov was born in London where he learned in the yeshivah of Rav Moshe Schneider, ztl and was the chavrusa of the Gaon Harav Avrohom Gurwicz, Rosh Yeshivas Gateshead. He was a Talmid Chacham who knew Shas baal peh. His brother, Hagaon Rav Moshe Sternbuch, said a number of times that “Rav Dov is a bigger Talmid Chacham than me.” Harav Dov once sent a letter to Harav Chaim Kanievsky asking a shaila if he could request from the tzibur not to stand up for him when he enters shul. Harav Kanievsky answered him that getting up is the tzibur’s mitzvah and he shouldn’t take away their mitzvah.