JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In recent weeks Rabbi Benny Lau raised an uproar in the national-religious community when he wrote an article stressing that people with LGBTQ leanings should not be rejected by the orthodox world even if they choose to live with their spouse and do not try to change their sexual orientation. Lau claimed […]

JERUSALEM (JNS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that while the country’s nationwide lockdown has dramatically lowered COVID-19 morbidity, lifting the restrictions would be a drawn-out process. In his opening address to the coronavirus cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that, prior to the lockdown, “Israel was ranked first in morbidity per capita in […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Rebbe of Ruzhin, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman had many descendants and it is no surprise that they conduct a tish on the 3rd of Marcheshvan which marks the day of his yahrzeit. However the Pashkan-Gilo rebbe, Rabbi Hoshea Ben-Shalom Friedman is probably the most unusual scion of Ruzhin, since he is at […]

NEW YORK(VINnews) — As countries rush to find an effective vaccine against coronavirus, many scientists are asking what can be done to prevent the spread of the virus in the meantime. Official guidance calls for masks, social distancing of at least two meters and washing hands regularly, but dental experts suggest that proper oral hygiene […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Thousands of Belz chasidim attended the funeral procession of Rabbi Yitzchak Landa (89), one of the senior and prominent chasidim who had served as the gabbai of Rav Aharon of Belz and had been with him previously in Bochnia ghetto. Police attempted to prevent the large funeral procession from taking place due […]

NEW YORK (VINnews/Elozar Dorfman) — It was Thursday evening, erev Sukkos 2020. I knew something was off but it was just too hectic to pay any attention to it. At least not then. By the time Friday afternoon came along with all the last minute sukkos preparations being culminated in a frenzy the symptoms were […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s top public health agency is raising the importance of wearing face masks on planes, trains and buses, although the Trump administration has resisted making masks mandatory for travelers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new interim guidelines for travelers, including a “strong recommendation” to wear face coverings to […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — In his Tuesday briefing, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that he held an in-person meeting on Monday at Gracie Mansion, aimed at building a strategy to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the predominantly jewish areas in Brooklyn and Queens. “It was a very moving meeting, a very productive meeting with […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — In the past month a number of rulings were issued in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, the son-in-law of Rabbi Elyashiv and Rav of the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood in Bnei Brak, including one in which he allegedly said that one should not pray for a person who showed contempt for […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Police in Israel have come under broad criticism for their seemingly selective enforcement of coronavirus regulations. Chareidim- even those in secular areas-  have come under much closer scrutiny from police and in many cases are detained and arrested for even the most minor infractions. In one case this week, police arrested a […]