The Ponovezh Yeshiva bais medrash was filled with thousands of talmidim for the traditional Purim night learning organized by Rabbi Shimon Margulies following the instructions of the late rosh yeshiva Maran Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l.
The talmidim immersed themselves in learning and then singing, davening for the swift return of the hostages.
The talmidim learned continuously until 2:00 AM.
This traditional Purim learning has taken place for the past 30 years, as per the directive of Rav Edelstein, who founded the program and spoke about it for decades.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rabbi Shlomo Eliezer Loberbaum z”l, one of the prominent and respected members of the Boyaner chassidus and a close confidant of the Boyaner Rebbe. He was 86.
Reb Shlomo was the owner of the legendary Maadanei Geulah restaurant in Yerushalayim.
Reb Shlomo was born on the 19th of Elul in 1938 to his father, Rabbi Yitzchak Loberbaum, and his mother, Mrs. Miriam Loberbaum.
He was deeply connected to the Rebbes of the Boyan dynasty and was a longtime and dedicated follower of the current Rebbe.

A soldier from the Golani Brigade, who had been injured during the fierce combat in Gaza, experienced an unexpected and emotional moment while vacationing in Sri Lanka. While attending a local shul, he was reading from a Megillah and discovered that it was dedicated in memory of three soldiers who had fallen in the war, including Major Moshe Avram Bar On, who died in a battle in which the soldier himself had also been wounded.
“This was the first time the Megillah was opened and read. It was great closure for Purim. The connection between the holiday of Purim, the reading of the Megillah, and the memory of the fallen soldiers made the moment particularly emotional and shocking.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu participated in the reading of Megillas Esther at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh on Thursday evening.
Addressing the police officers, the prime minister drew a comparison to the story of Purim, in which the Jewish people were saved from annihilation in Persia, now present-day Iran, to the modern Jewish state’s conflict with the Islamic Republic.
“Two thousand five hundred years later an enemy of the Jewish people arose in that land. He, too, wants to destroy and annihilate the seed of the Jews from the face of the earth,” Netanyahu said.

In a dramatic halachic ruling, Hagaon Rav Moshe Sternbuch, the senior posek and raavad of the Badatz of the Eidah Hachareidis, has declared that anyone who was in Yerushalayim at dawn on Purim morning must not leave the city during the day.
The psak, which has significant halachic implications, was delivered by Rav Sternbuch during his shiur to members of the Teshuvos Vehanhagos Kollel, and has sparked widespread discussion.

Renowned and beloved composer Yossi Green has unveiled a special musical composition for Purim, Shoshanas Yaakov, written in honor of the Munkatcher Rebbe, Rav Moshe Leib Rabinowitz.
Sung by Yossi himself, the production below features the musical arrangements by Mendy Hershkowitz and the masterful vocal production by Yossi Tyberg.
From conception to completion, the entire production was accomplished in less than 36 hours in an effort to present the song to the Rebbe before Purim this year.
LISTEN:

Credits:
Composed by: Yossi Green
Produced by: Yossi Tyberg
Arranged by: Mendy Hershkowitz

Footage has surfaced showing Iran’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami reading Megillas Esther at the kever of Mordechai and Esther in Hamadan, Iran on leil Purim tonight.
Rabbi Gerami and his followers were also seen dancing outside the kever complex before Mincha. The rabbi then proceeded to read Megillas Esther after Maariv.
Mordechai and Esther are believed to be buried in a mausoleum located in Hamadan, thought to be the ancient city of Shushan mentioned in Megillas Esther. This tradition, however, is not accepted by all beyond the Iranian Jewish community.
Iran is home to approximately 8,500 Jews, with the majority residing in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz.
WATCH:

Rabbonim from Yerushalayim and other cities have urged people to avoid traveling between cities on Friday, recommending that if travel is absolutely necessary, it should be done in the morning hours.
This year, the majority of Israel will observe Purim on Friday, while in Yerushalayim and a few other locations, the Yom Tov is on Shabbos and Sunday, for a Purim Meshulash.
This cautionary advice has been issued due to concerns that there could be severe traffic congestion on the highways, particularly given the timing of the Yom Tov.

Voting is underway stateside for the so-called “parliament of the Jewish people.”
The election for the 39th World Zionist Congress, which opened on Monday, will last until May 4, with major ramifications for the allocation of more than $1 billion of funding for Israel and world Jewry and shaping Zionist institutions for the next few years.
The election is the first for the congress since the end of the Covid pandemic, internal Israeli political strife and Oct. 7, and many see it as a referendum on the Israeli government and Jewish organizational leadership.

In a surprising development, Matzav.com and Yeshiva World News have jointly announced that they are merging into a single powerhouse of online news, bringing a seismic shift to the frum media landscape.
Sources close to both websites have confirmed that the merger, which is set to take effect on Shushan Purim, is in response to the overwhelming realization that two separate sites simply aren’t necessary anymore.
“After all,” said one anonymous insider, “why the need for two websites when you can have one mega-site that covers every angle of frum life, from shidduch suggestions to political opinions, from COVID-19 updates to the latest yeshiva drama?”