A fringe group of Breslov Chassidim were arrested on Wednesday after they rioted at the Kever of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in protest of the strict regulations and lack of agreement regarding the number of Chassidim who will be allowed to visit the site during Rosh HaShanah. The rioters broke down barricades that were put in place to keep order and adherence to Corona regulations at the site. The rioters were arrested and the barricades were put back. The majority of the Breslov Chassidim supported the idea of putting up the barricades to help direct people where to go and keep a distance from one another while visiting the site. On Wednesday, a group of Chasidim arrived at the site and claimed that the barricades prevented access to the grave and began to riot.

The head of Israel’s first coronavirus ward in Sheba Medical Center slammed the Israeli public for disregarding human lives by failing to adhere to health regulations, Ynet reported. Dr. Gadi Segal wrote a post on Facebook urging Israeli to start viewing the coronavirus pandemic more seriously. “I’ve posted the names of the people who have died as a result of the disease,” Segal wrote. “Many of them I knew, some died in my arms,” “Their blood is on the head of anyone who thinks that his theories, his parnassah, his personal liberty, his freedom of speech, his right to refuse and in general, he himself, is more important than the lives of others.

The U.S. Embassy announced on Tuesday that the State Department has sold the U.S. Ambassador’s official residence in Herzliya as the final step of the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem. “Planning for the sale of the former US Ambassador’s residence in Tel Aviv began in 2019 with marketing of the property beginning in January of 2020,” the statement said. “The Department of State has recently selected the buyer for the sale of the former Chief of Mission Residence in Herzliya Israel. The buyer was selected solely on the basis of having submitted the highest and best offer. The selected buyer and the unsuccessful bidders have been notified.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Israel requested that his country put restrictions on Jewish pilgrims visiting Rebbe Nachman’s Kever this year during Rosh Hashanah. Zelensky told Israeli reporters that the request came amid rising COVID-19 cases in Israel. The Jerusalem Post quoted Zelensky as saying that Ukraine is “very proud of this gathering and does everything to welcome our guests. This year, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, we had to implement very strict policies at the request of Israel to ensure the safety of both the citizens of Ukraine and our visitors coming from all around the world.” Zelensky also mentioned that he would like to see closer cooperation between the two countries, specifically with regard to security issues.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Most Bais Yaakov high schools generally have davening take place in school. In the pre-COVID days many of them had it in the large auditorium, but in COVID times – they generally daven in the classrooms.  But what do they do about breakfast?  Unlike the Yeshiva high schools – […]

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com During the period of COVID-19 – everyone needs chizuk.  It is appropriate, however, in the new zman, in the new semester of school – for the mechanchim and the mechanchos of our children to get a boost of inspiration and chizuk from one of the Gedolim of the previous […]

Rav Yonatan Markovitch, a Chabad Rav in Kiev, was the first Rav to receive a Medal of Honor from the Ukrainian Parliament on Monday. The medal is awarded to public leaders who made a significant contribution to Ukraine. Rav Markovitch was honored for his 20 years of service to Kiev and his contribution to the welfare of Ukrainian citizens. Rav Markovitch, 53, was born in the city of Uzhgorod (Ungvar), Ukraine, where his maternal grandfather had served as the Rav and shochet years before. In 1972, he immigrated with his family to Israel. In 2000 he moved back to Ukraine with his family and began serving as a Chabad Rav in Kiev, overseeing the establishment of schools and communal institutions.

It’s possible that Israel’s citizens will be placed in a full national lockdown for at least a month as the coronavirus infection rate continues to soar, according to Israeli media reports based on leaks from a Zoom meeting of senior Health Ministry and hospital directors on Tuesday night. During the meeting with coronavirus czar Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Health Ministry officials, and the directors of Israel’s largest hospitals, Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Chezy Levy said that if a lockdown is implemented, it will be for at least a month, saying that two or three weeks will not be sufficient to curb the infection rate.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ slammed Israel’s law enforcement system on Tuesday following a shocking report of a cover-up related to a case against him at the highest echelons of the police and state prosecution. “The entire chain of command is involved: senior investigators, the chief of police, the state attorney, and everything is sanctioned and authorized by the attorney general,” Netanyahu said. “This was not an investigation. This is a corrupt political conspiracy to topple a prime minister.” Netanyahu also apologized to the family of Yaqoub Abu Al-Qia’an, a Bedouin man who was fatally shot by the police in 2017, who claimed he had purposedly rammed his car into the police amid a police operation to demolish part of his village in 2017.

New York City restaurants can resume indoor dining on Sept. 30 at 25% capacity with other restrictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Cuomo said all customers will undergo temperature checks at the door and one member of each party will have to provide information for contact tracing if needed. Customers will not be served drinks at bars, which will be to provide drinks for table service, and restaurants must close at midnight. Tables will be required to be 6 feet apart and customers must wear masks while not at the table. Indoor dining is already allowed in restaurants elsewhere in New York state. “We knew that compliance was lacking in New York City. That was a reason for caution,” Cuomo said at a Wednesday briefing. Neighboring New Jersey recently enacted similar rules.