Dear Matzav Inbox,
I thought I had seen it all, but this past Shabbos opened my eyes to an epidemic that is quietly taking root in our communities. I was a guest at a Bar Mitzvah, and what I witnessed at the Kiddush after davening—though for some, it began during the leining—was beyond shocking.
The spread was extravagant and excessive: lavish meat boards, two types of cholent, three types of kugel, and more varieties of herring than I could count. And then there was the Schnapps—a veritable sea of expensive bottles, freely passed around and sampled by men of all ages.

Agudath Israel of America is bewildered at the release of an audit report indicating that the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) has a budgetary surplus of approximately $30 million. This finding, presented yesterday at the ERCSD Board meeting by independent auditing firm EFPR Group, LLP, diverges wildly from the $20-40 million deficit expected this summer by state-appointed monitors. The severe projected deficit had prompted the State Education Department (SED) to take the extraordinary step of substantially increasing and overriding the voted upon property tax levy on East Ramapo residents to generate needed funds. This move by SED — and specifically the communally divisive rhetoric used to justify it — was criticized by Agudath Israel and others at the time.

The chairman of Degel HaTorah, MK Moshe Gafni, Deputy Minister Uri Maklev, and MK Yaakov Asher met last night with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
The meeting was an attempt to restart the process of formulating the Draft Law following the appointment of the new Defense Minister.
The demand was to advance the law quickly. The representatives primarily sought to understand from the new Defense Minister, Yisroel Katz, where things are headed, given the importance of presenting the security establishment’s position on the law—a goal that was not achieved during Gallant’s tenure.
Katz committed to managing the issue in a professional and collaborative manner.

The family of Moishy Kleinerman in the city of Modiin Illit is celebrating a simcha, as his mother, Gitti Kleinerman, gave birth to a baby boy today, b’sha’ah tovah.
The family, which has been living in uncertainty for over two years, is still searching for any clue that could lead to solving the mystery of Moishy’s disappearance.
For over two years, his father, R’ Shmuel, and his mother, Gitti, filled with faith and tefillah, have been doing everything they can to bring Moishy home.
For more than two and a half years, Gitti has been appealing to the people of Israel:

In recent weeks, hundreds of young men and yeshiva heads have been visiting the residence of the Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch to seek his counsel on the pressing issue of the military draft, which stands at the forefront of the public agenda.
In the footage below, the Rosh Yeshiva is seen advising a group of talmidim from the Zahav Mordechai Itri yeshiva who had received draft notices and came to seek the Rosh Yeshiva’s guidance on what they should do.
In the footage below, questions are presented before the Rosh Yeshiva.

Rupert Nathan, 63, was arrested by British police and held in a cell for 12 hours after describing a rabbi in a private Facebook post as a “creep,” a “fake rabbi” and a “kapo boy.”
“Kapo” refers to Jews in German concentration camps during World War II who cooperated with the Nazis in overseeing other prisoners in return for preferential treatment. A 2019 article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle called it the “worst insult a Jew can give another Jew.”
Nathan admitted his remarks may have caused offense, but disputes that it was illegal or antisemitic. “I admit that calling someone a ‘kapo‘ is not a nice thing to do but it is not a crime,” he told the Daily Mail on Saturday.

In recent months, Minister Meir Porush has consistently called for halting the promotion of a draft law and has openly opposed the intention to tie the passage of the state budget to the approval of such a law. However, this morning, HaMevaser, the newspaper affiliated with Shlomei Emunim, has shifted its stance and launched a scathing attack on the newly appointed Defense Minister, Yisroel Katz.
According to the publication, “With the approval of the incoming Defense Minister, Yisroel Katz, who is continuing the policy initiated by his predecessor, Yoav Gallant, the army will begin issuing 7,000 additional draft notices to yeshiva students starting today.”

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Dovid Yehuda Wertheimer zt”l at Maayanei HaYeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak. He was 54.
Rav Wertheimer, one of the prominent talmidei chachomim and maggidei shiur in Modiin Illit, was a son-in-law of Rav Shimon Galei zt”l. He succumbed to a severe illness that he battled over the past year.
Rav Wertheimer was born on the 28th of Av in 1970 to his father, Rav Shlomo Wertheimer, and his mother, Leah Glick. In his youth, he learned at Yeshivas Kol Yaakov in Yerushalayim.

A suspect has been taken into custody after a troubling incident in Staten Island, New York, in which two people on a motorcycle were caught on video knocking off the yarmulka from a Jewish man’s head.
The incident took place as the victim was walking across a street.

Matzav.com is saddened to report the passing of Reb Dovid Pitterman z”l, a cherished member of the Flatbush community.
Reb Dovid was a longtime resident of the Avenue P neighborhood, where he was known and loved for his warmth, yashrus, and dedication to Torah and chesed.
Reb Dovid hailed from a family deeply connected to the Mir Yeshiva and was himself a proud talmid of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn. His bond with the yeshiva remained strong throughout his life, as he continued to daven there for decades, maintaining his kesher to the yeshiva and its roshei yeshiva and rabbeim.