Rav Tzvi Kogan, a Chabad shaliach in the Emirati city of Abu Dhabi, has been missing for several days and Israeli security officials fear he was abducted or murdered, chalilah. Kogan, who serves as an assistant to the Chief Rabbi of the UAE, Rav Levi Duchman, has not been in touch with his wife since Wednesday. The Mossad is involved in the case and they believe that Rav Kogan may have been under surveillance by hostile terrorist elements on behalf of Iran. It appears the murderers may have escaped to Turkey, but it is unclear where his body was transferred. Israeli intelligence officials have traveled to the Emirates to investigate the case together with Emirati authorities, who are leading the investigation.

Six young Arabs were arrested on Sunday near the Chareidi neighborhoods in Antwerp for planning to attack Chareidi Jews. Antwerp police confirmed the information to local media. “A few young people planned yesterday to carry out a similar action as in the Netherlands (an hour and a half drive from the Netherlands) in the Jewish quarter of Antwerp, and as a result, we increased patrols,” said Antwerp police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns. The police arrested six suspects, including several minors. Some of the suspects were caught in a local park and others were caught in the Chareidi neighborhood itself. “Suspects with suspicious items in their pockets, or flags, were detained for several hours,” Bruyns said.

As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to deepen, Jewish life continues in both countries. The Jewish kehilla in Iran, headed by HaRav Yehudah Gerami, held a party for children in a sukkah on Chol Hamoed, and various Sukkos events were held in several cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Israeli media reports on Monday said that seven Israelis were arrested last month for alleged espionage for Iran – the most severe espionage case ever seen in Israeli history. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A Belgian court on Monday sentenced two members of a Muslim terrorist cell to prison sentences after being indicted of planning terror attacks against local Chareidi Jews and other targets. The main culprit, a Chechen national identified as Abubakar S., 26, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and another 10 years of police supervision. His wife and accomplice, 35, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Four other members of the cell received suspended sentences and fines. The defendants had formulated a detailed plan in the summer of 2023 to carry out terror attacks in a Chareidi neighborhood in Antwerp along with other locations, including crowded areas, a police station, a NATO building, and a Toeiva bar.

Australian Hamas supporters held a protest outside Perth’s only Jewish school on Monday, The Australian reported. Carmel Schoool is a Modern Orthodox school that offers Jewish education from pre-school through high school, the only Jewish school located in Western Australia. The Australian Jewish Association slammed the protesters for targeting children, stating: “This outrageous protest crosses all red lines. To bring their anti-Israel hate right near the heart of the Perth Jewish community, including the city’s only Jewish school. AJA has been contacted by outraged members of the Perth Jewish community.” “Our community will not be intimidated. The Government needs to start taking this seriously.

The Chief Rabbi of Tehran HaRav Yehudah Gerami traveled to Shiraz last week to recite Selichos with the children of the kehilla. Following the recital of Selichos, HaRav Gerami blew the shofar for the children. [It should be noted that the event required much dedication from Rav Gerami as Shiraz is quite far from Tehran (over 9 hours by car). The majority of the Jews in Iran live in Tehran, the capital and largest city in the Tehran Province. About 2,000 Jews live in the southwestern city of Shiraz, the fourth-most populous city in Iran and the capital of Fars Province. Apart from Shiraz, there are about 1,200 Jews in Isfahan, a kehilla in Kermanshah, and smaller kehillos in Yazd and other cities. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A video posted by the Australian Jewish Association shows a disturbing scene at Monash University in Melbourne, one of Australia’s most “prestigious” universities. Students were asked to stand to honor the murdered hostages and the remaining hostages in Gaza “out of respect for our common humanity.” Only a small group of students, apparently Jewish students, arose and the majority of the students remained sitting. When those who stood began filming them, they screamed: “Stop filming!” [Do they have a guilty conscience?] Some of them began chanting “Free, free Palestine!” as seen in the second video below. Sadly, in the post-October 7 world, it cannot be taken for granted that the non-Jewish world has any “common humanity” regarding Jews, even those murdered by a sadistic terror group.

It’s sad but unsurprising that antisemitic incidents have surged in London to the point that the government has launched a new bus route to help Jews “feel safe” when they travel. The new 310 route will run every 20 minutes between Stamford Hill and Golders Green, eliminating the need to change buses in the high-crime area of Finsbury Park. “I was struck by the conversations I’ve had in recent months with the Jewish community,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC London. “They were frightened because of a massive increase of antisemitism since Oct. 7 of last year. I was told stories by families who, when they changed buses from Stamford Hill to Golders Green at Finsbury Park, were frightened about the abuse they had received.

Chabad bochurim Yisroel Andrusier from Florida and Zalmy Gurary from Montreal, students of Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch in the Brunoy village in France, were helping Jews put on Tefillin in the Jewish quarter in Paris, known as the Pletzl. Collive reported on a moving encounter they had with a special Jew, Raphael Benguigui, and his wife Lorena, residents of Paris and Lisbon, Portugal. Raphael, who doesn’t have hands, agreed to put on Tefillin. Lorena told the bochurim later that Raphael used to daven with tefillin on a regular basis but stopped when he was diagnosed with leukemia and later suffered from septic shock. “My husband needed this,” she said, explaining that “after what we call ‘the life accident,’ he didn’t do it every day anymore. He had some anger to deal with.

A number of Jews in Iran were certified as Rabbanim, shochtim and sofrei stam in a festive ceremony on Sunday headed by the Rav of Tehran, Rav Yehuda Gerami. Two of the Jews who received semicha will serve as Rabbanim in Tehran and one will serve in the city of Isfahan. Fifteen Jews from Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz were certified as shochtim and sofrei stam. A Siyum HaShas was also held at the ceremony and was attended by about 300 members of the Jewish Kehilla. At the beginning of the month, HaRav Gerami held a siyum on Masechtas Brachos with his talmidim in Isfahan. At the end of the ceremony and siyum, the participants danced to the songs of “מי שמאמין לא מפחד” and “לא לפחד כלל.”   (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)