Rishon L’Tzion HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef Shlita announced on Sunday that women are prohibited to light Chanukah candles, in line with the psak of the Mechaber. Rav Yosef added that the Reform Movement and the Women of the Wall are destroying Yiddishkeit and one must combat their efforts. In response, the Women of the Wall (WoW) organization released a message, “The rabbi must ask himself why he feels so threatened by the fact that women light Chanukah candles at the Kosel. Does the rav mean to imply that in every home in which women light Chanukah candles Yiddishkheit is being destroyed? In every municipal event in which women light Chanukah candles Yiddishkheit is being destroyed?

The mourning period is over. It’s time to get back to the issues of great importance, and Jew hating seems to be the top of the list for Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Joan Terrell. Terrall made her despicable comments in response to a column published on InsiderNJ called “Faith and hope in face of Hate”. Insider NJ transcribed part of her comments: “Where was all this faith and hope when black homeowners were being threatened, intimidated and harassed by ‘want to buy your house’ bullies of the Jewish community? They brazenly came on the property of black homeowners and waved bags of money. Resistance was met with more threats of ‘we will bring drug dealers and prostitutes to live next door to you.

A sea of blue is expected Tuesday on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City as fallen Detective Joseph Seals is laid to rest during a private funeral. The solemn ceremony takes place at 11 a.m. at St. Aeden’s Church. Seals, a 40-year-old Jersey City native, is survived by his wife and five children. They joined thousands of mourners at Monday’s wake at the McLaughlin Funeral Home. Detective Seals was murdered last week at Bay View Cemetery during a confrontation with two murder suspects, who would go on to murder three others during an hours-long gun battle with police. Seals worked his way up through the ranks inside the Jersey City Police Department, starting in the street crimes unit before he was promoted to detective in 2017. He is credited with taking back hundreds of illegal guns. (AP)

New Jersey’s Assembly on Monday passed a measure to eliminate religious exemptions for vaccines for schoolchildren, but the bill stalled in the state Senate as opponents shouted so loudly they drowned out the session. The Democrat-led Assembly passed the bill 45-25, with six abstentions, but the Democrat-controlled state Senate postponed a vote because there weren’t enough yes votes, according to the bill’s sponsor and Senate President Steve Sweeney.

With the House of Representatives racing toward an impeachment vote this week, President Donald Trump will likely become the third president to face a Senate trial to determine whether he should be removed from office,. The examples of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, who were both acquitted, offer insight into the process that Trump would face. Still, much remains unknown about how a trial would proceed on charges that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress through his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden while withholding military aid to the country. Among the unresolved issues are how long a trial would last, how many witnesses would be called, if any, and whether parts of the proceedings would be conducted behind closed doors.

The chareidi parties in Knesset, Shas and Yahadut Hatorah, decided to host a joint siyum of Shas, which will take place on Tuesday, 3 Teves, in Bnei Brak. Prior to the announcement, there was much discussion if Shas was going to agree to participate in a joint event with the two factions making up Yahadut Hatorah; Degel Hatorah and Agudas Yisrael. There was much discussion, and for some time, it appeared that Shas was not interested in hosting a combined event, but now, there will be a combined event as well as an exclusive Shas event in Jerusalem. The combined event will take place at the large lot on the road in the Bnei Brak corridor known as ‘אם המושבות’.

The nation is preparing for Knesset elections and the parties are beginning their campaigns. For Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party, this means continuing and stepping up the anti-chareidi propaganda, the incitement against the entire frum tzibur in Eretz Yisrael. While the incitement and collective hate campaign is despicable, what is worrisome is the fact the polls show Lieberman receiving 8-10 seats, which is representative of about 400,000 seats or more – signaling just how many Israelis are willing to back a party whose campaign rests in no small part and despising and delegitimizing an entire tzibur. In his most recent diatribe, Liberman is alleging that a deal is being closed between the chareidim and the Blue & White party headed by MK Benny Gantz.

You know the expression, time heals all wounds? Or, forgive and forget? Well, sometimes that just doesn’t happen, try as you may. When I was a young teenager, I was enrolled in a new Yeshiva high school that had just formed a couple of years prior to my enrolling. My young, recently married teacher was also our Rosh Yeshiva. The yeshiva was very resolute in establishing a reputation in being second to none, and would thus place burdens upon the students to perform at very high levels. Yeshiva’s schedule was approximately from 7 am until 9 pm. I couldn’t learn at that level of intensity, so-needless to say-my minutes weren’t fully maximized. The vibes that I received from the faculty were that I was a liability to the institution. A pariah, if you will.

Tariq Kurd, the 18-year old Arab driver, who caused the accident that devastated the Rimmel family, was re-arrested on Sunday morning when the police investigation showed that he had been speeding at 105 mph when he hit the Rimmel car. Israeli media reports said that the prosecution will indict Kurd later this week for reckless homicide, a charge that carries up to a 12-year prison sentence. Meanwhile, as YWN reported on Sunday, the father of the family, Ephraim Rimmel, regained consciousness on Sunday. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Highly credible sources tell YWN that investigators are now looking at a shooting incident of a Jewish-owned vehicle two weeks ago in connection with the terror attack in Jersey City. The incident in question occurred on Route 1 and 9 exactly one week before the attack, when a Hasidic man – who happens to be a Misaskim Volunteer – noticed a U-haul van driving close to him in the area of Newark Airport. Suddenly, the Jewish driver heard a smash and saw his passenger side window shattered. He figured something was thrown at his vehicle or a stone had jumped up from the highway. The U-haul exited the highway at the next exit, and the driver never reported the incident.