It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Aviezer Shimon Yosef Wolfson zt”l, former marbitz Torah at Yeshivas Toras Chaim in Moscow and father of Rav Daniel Wolfson, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Nesivos Chochmah. He was 87.
Rav Wolfson, who lived in Yerushalayim, was a man of great stature who left behind a noble mishpacha. He spent most of his years teaching Torah in Eretz Yisroel and abroad. He was known for his integrity and purity of heart.
Rav Wolfson gave tzedakah quietly and supported many Torah mosdos and talmidei chachomim. He raised an outstanding mishpacha of talmidei chachomim.

Chaim Treitel, a chareidi soldier from Bnei Brak serving in the Givati Brigade, was injured on Sunday after being hit by sniper fire from Hamas in Gaza. He was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center, remaining conscious but suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. Upon his arrival, he was taken into surgery to address the injury.
Moshe, Chaim’s father, shared with Arutz Sheva that his son had been hit by a sniper: “A sniper shot at him and missed. A friend made him a tourniquet immediately.”
He added that his son was able to speak with him before the operation, saying, “He was conscious, he was okay, I hope that the operation will go smoothly and he will start rehab.”

Photo: IDF commanding officer Shmulik Drillman receiving a brocha from the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak, Rav Mendel Hager, at the Vizhnitzer Simchas Bais Hashoeivah before heading back into Lebanon.

Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, speaking at his beis midrash in Ramat Elchanan, Bnei Brak, mentioned the great miracles that took place over the past year, when tens of thousands of rockets were fired from all directions, yet they did not cause many casualties.
At the same time, the rav referenced the words of the Bartenura in Maseches Megillah, who wrote: “It is a tradition passed down to us that the resurrection of the dead will occur on Pesach, and the War of Gog and Magog on Sukkos.”

A visibly Jewish teenager was attacked on Sunday evening in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, according to French media reports.
Around 7 p.m. local time, the kippah-wearing 15-year-old was exiting a metro station in Levallois-Perret, a residential area in the Hauts-de-Seine department, when two youths approached him.
“They quickly remove his kippah, but the two individuals turn around and start telling him: ‘And you, the Jew, wait for us, wait for us,’” recounted the victim’s mother to CNews TV. “My son stopped and turned around to look at who these people were who were calling out to him. He then continued to move forward, but one of them managed to grab him by the hood.”

Join Klal Yisrael as it embarks on a new cycle of Kitzur Yomi starting October 26th, Shabbos, Isru Chag Succos.

Now, thanks to the generosity of anonymous donors, ArtScroll is offering free copies of the Pocket Kleinman Edition of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Volume 1, along with free Kitzur Yomi Calendars, dedicated in memory of Baruch Simcha ben Eliyahu Dov z”l and Ruchama Chaya Fruma bas R’ Dov Pinchas a”h.

Israel’s government is working tirelessly to maintain the exemption for yeshiva students from mandatory IDF service, according to Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri. In an interview published on Monday in Haderech, the Shas-affiliated newspaper, Deri emphasized that the government is doing “everything” in its power to achieve this goal.
Deri acknowledged that “despite it being difficult at this time to find a legal and agreed-upon solution,” he was following the directives of Shas’s rabbonim, who had instructed him “to make every effort so that a son of Torah, whose soul yearns for Torah study without exception, can study Torah without quotas or restrictions.”

A man was arrested after an alleged assault with a wooden stick outside the Silver Spring Jewish Center, a Frum Shul in Maryland’s Kemp Mill neighborhood, on Monday.
According to statements from witnesses and photos posted on a local Jewish group chat, which was shared with JNS, the man struck two Jews who left the building. The Shul is part of a complex that includes a day school and nursery, for children from age 2 until second grade. The latter has an armed guard.
Images shared on the chat show a man holding a wooden stake with a pointed edge walking on the street and, subsequently, being handcuffed by multiple Montgomery County Police Department officers wearing blue gloves.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has strongly criticized Shas party leader Aryeh Deri after he seemed to imply that the study of Torah by yeshiva students is more crucial to the war effort than the actions of soldiers fighting on the frontlines.
Lapid remarked, “Aryeh Deri should look the thousands of IDF wounded and the bereaved families in the eye, and tell them that while they were wounded in battles to defend the homeland, while their children were killed, he is proud that he is promoting a [draft] evasion law which will ensure that ultra-Orthodox youth remain safe in yeshivas and will learn without interruption.”

For many years, guides leading visitors on tours of Jewish history in Spain have shared rumors that Christopher Columbus was Jewish. A new documentary that garnered worldwide press coverage ahead of Columbus Day on Monday states that DNA evidence proves that the explorer was a member of the tribe, but experts told JNS that such a claim should be taken with a grain of salt.
The national Spanish broadcaster TVE aired “Columbus DNA: The true origin” on Saturday, Reuters reported. “Researchers conducted a 22-year investigation, led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, by testing tiny samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral, long marked by authorities there as the last resting place of Columbus, though there had been rival claims,” the wire reported.