A young father from the Monsey community is in critical condition after being involved in a motor vehicle accident in Pennsylvania’s Berkshire Mountains on Motzei Shabbos. According to reports, the man’s disabled Nissan Sentra was parked on the shoulder of I-78, but was jutting out into the road slightly, when it was rear-ended by a tractor trailer. The vehicle was hurled into an embankment, and the passenger was ejected through the rear passenger side window. He was transported to Reading Hospital in Pennsylvania and is listed in critical condition. Sources tell YWN that the man is a singer, and was returning from a job he had just finished. Please daven for Shmuel Yitzchak ben Chava Leah. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

YWN regrets to inform you of the sudden Petira of Mrs Sydell (Sara) Rennert A”H. She was in her late 80’s. The Niftar resided in Monsey and taught in Yeshiva Bais Hillel of Passaic for the past 45+ years. She was in Lakewood for Shabbos and was rushed to Jersey Shore Hospital by Hatzolah on Friday afternoon, with severe difficulty in breathing. She was Niftar on Friday night. The Levaya will be at 12:30PM at the “old” Yeshiva of Spring Valley, 229 Maple Avenue, Monsey NY 10952. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Missionaries are upping the ante in their attempts to lure frum Jews to Christianity, mailing Bibles translated into Yiddish to frum households in the Monsey and Spring Valley area. In addition to being straight-out kefirah, the books come in a package that lists a shul as the sender – an outright deceptive practice to fool people into thinking that the books are from another frum Jew. Those who received any such books should either discard of them or mail them to Beyneynu, who can use them in their counter-missionary efforts. For more information WhatsApp Beyneynu at 917-387-4330 or email info@beyneynu.com. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Treacherously icy roads in Monsey this morning caused a fire chief’s vehicle to overturn, though the chief – a frum Jew – luckily emerged without a scratch. With Friday being a legal holiday, the streets in the area have not been properly plowed and salted, resulting in road surfaces being extremely icy and dangerous, particularly in hilly areas. Rockland Chaveirim have been assisting in shutting down numerous streets that have become too dangerous to traverse, as they await salt spreaders to arrive. If you are in Monsey today and over Shabbos, be especially aware and careful of the icy conditions. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A fire broke out at Yeshiva of Spring Valley Girls School (YSV), located at 143 Grandview Ave., on Monday. Heavy smoke could be seen billowing from the campus as firefighters raced to contain the blaze. The fire ignited in an unoccupied new section of YSV currently under construction. Hundreds of girls in school today were safely evacuated from the campus. No injuries have been reported. Rockland Chaveirim units have responded to the scene and arranged for heated buses to be placed near the school so that the girls could be placed in a warm environment and out of the frigid cold.

The “mysterious virus” that has sickened thousands of Israeli yeshivah bochurim seems to have spread to the tri-state area, with hundreds upon hundreds of ill yeshivah bochurim in yeshivos in Brooklyn, Lakewood, and Monsey. The Lakewood Scoop reported on Wednesday that hundreds of yeshivah bochurim in various Mesivtas in Lakewood are sick with a strange virus. One Lakewood yeshivah even sent the daily shiur via email since most of the bochurim were sick at home. “My son is in one of these Mesivtas and the doctor could not diagnose what type of virus this is,” one parent told TLS. Parents say that although some of the symptoms are similar to flu symptoms, it’s not the flu. The bochurim were tested for COVID and the results were negative.

NY Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced a new mask mandate, but it is up to local health departments to enforce it, and some Republican county executives say they absolutely will not. Hochul on Friday announced that she is requiring masks to be worn in all indoor spaces where proof of vaccination is not required, citing New York’s rising Covid-19 caseload as the impetus for her decision. Violations of the new mandate is subject to civil and criminal penalties, including a maximum fine of $1,000 for each violation. One of those Republicans is Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who said the governor’s staff wasn’t even able to provide him with detailed information about the new requirement.

Yesterday, I went shopping for donuts. Today, I’m wondering how I’m going to pay my credit card bill next month. You see, I wanted to get donuts for a small family Chanukah party. How much could it cost already for a dozen – twenty bucks? Not a problem, I’m happy to spend that money in exchange for a smile. But as I prepared to leave, it was made very clear to me that the standard jelly and custard donuts I’ve been accustomed to for my entire life were no longer “chic.” “These days,” I was told, “you have to get the nicer donuts or else you’re a nerd.” Odd, but alright, nicer donuts it’ll be, I decided. I went to a local store and asked for a dozen of their upper-end donuts.

Hatzolah of Rockland County released an urgent warning on Wednesday, saying they have seen a “frightening uptick” in serious accidents involving electric bikes and scooters, and are urging the community to be aware of the dangers involved in operating the toys. E-bikes and electric scooters are becoming increasingly popular, but these powered bikes and scooters carry a higher risk of severe injuries than traditional bicycles and scooters due to higher speed capabilities. Unsafe riding and collisions can result in serious injury or death” Hatzolah wrote in a flyer distributed Wednesday morning.

A sickening display of anti-Semitism was showcased at a public hearing in the town of Haverstraw, NY (near Monsey) last night, when a bigot got up and made incredibly shocking and hateful comments about the Jews of the town. The incident came during at a town hearing during which a variance was being considered for a property upon which Jews are planning to build a shul. During the public comments section, a man who self-identified as Nick Collela of 45 River Glen Drive, got up to give his two cents about the Jews. Collela went on a tirade against the proposed building of the shul, looking for every possible complaint he could use – from garbage cans in the street to Hatzolah showing up to emergencies – to somehow get the shul’s request for approval denied.