YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Hagaon HaRav Mendle Rabinowitz ZATZAL, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Keren Hatorah and head of Yeshiva K’tana of Lakewood. He was 70-years-old. The Rosh Yeshiva had been hospitalized in critical condition from COVID-19, and was Niftar on Tuesday afternoon. The Niftar took over as Rosh Yeshiva of Keren Hatorah after the Petira of his brother, Hagaon HaRav Moshe Z”L around 4 years ago. The loss of the Niftar is a tremendous to the Lakewood community. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to us. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

(by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com) Today is Rav Avigdor Miller’s Yahrtzeit and he has a message that is remarkably pertinent today. Below are some quotes and summaries of what appears on the tape. Some 30 years ago, he described the Makos and what the Jews did at the time. [The Midrash Shmuel cites Midrashim that state: Al kol Makeh uMakeh haya meshamesh hadever – On each and every makeh there was a pestilence.] Although one of the makos was dever itself.. there was a dever with every makah. What is the significance of that? Because the Gemorah (Bava Kamma 60b) states dever baIr kanes raglecha – when there is an epidemic don’t go out and mix with people. Very important advice. Stay away from crowds. First of all not to donate your germs to others.

A New York Police Department employee died from coronavirus complications overnight, Commissioner Dermot Shea told CNN on Tuesday morning, marking the 31st reported coronavirus-related death within the NYPD. Shea didn’t name or provide additional details about the employee. About 13% of uniformed officers are out sick, which is “well over” regular sick out levels, Shea said, but noted today marks the 12th straight day of decreasing sick-out levels. “We are still very, very concerned about our members that are in the hospital … our thoughts and prayers are going out to them and to their families and really to the extended NYPD family as well,” he said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The attached videos are just some of the wonderful news that unfortunately gets drowned out is the avalanche of bad news. Bichasdei Hashem, many people have been released from the hospital, and many more are scheduled to be released. The following videos are just a sample of some of the good news. The first video was taken on Monday afternoon in Chicago, when Hatzalah Dispatcher R’ Yisroel Saacks returned home – after he was on a ventilator for three weeks. The following video is R’ Shia Frankel of Boro Park as he arrived home from the hospital, where he had once been listed in critical condition from COVID-19. The following video is R’ Nesanel Fried (Lakewood) returning home from the hospital where he was in critical condition.

State Senator Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and Councilman Kalman Yeger today jointly announced that the NYC Department of Education has agreed to provide Kosher meals for pickup at select public school locations across Brooklyn and Queens.

Lev Rochel Bikur Cholim of Lakewood, NJ held a wildly successful plasma testing drive on Sunday, administering a whopping 1,000 plasma tests at a carefully arranged testing site outside Blue Claws Stadium. Lakewood Bikur Cholim has emerged as a trailblazer, becoming the first organization of its kind to arrange such testing after leading medical experts expressed that recovered COVID-19 patient blood plasma can save lives. Those who underwent the testing were required to have previously had genuine symptoms, be completely symptom-free for at least a week, and be willing to donate blood.

A US judge has found Grafton Thomas, charged in the anti-Semitic stabbing of 5 people – one who later died – in a Monsey Shul suffers from mental defect rendering him unable to assist in his defense. Judge Cathy Siebel wrote in a decision made public Monday that Grafton Thomas be committed to a treatment facility for no more than four months to determine if “in the foreseeable future he will attain the capacity to permit criminal proceedings to go forward against him.” “The defendant is suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent he is unable to assist properly in his defense”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz have signed a deal to form a unity government in which they would share the premiership under a rotation agreement. This news comes after three elections and 17 months of election campaigns and coalition negotiations. The deal between Netanyahu’s Likud Party and former military chief Benny Gantz’s Blue and White ends months of political paralysis and averts what would have been a fourth consecutive election in just over a year. After March 2 elections ended in a stalemate, the two leaders agreed late last month to try to form an “emergency” unity Cabinet to cope with the burgeoning coronavirus crisis. Ending weeks of negotiations, the sides announced a deal on Monday.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Hagaon HaRav Aryeh Leib (Leibel) Katz ZATZAL. He was approximately 75. Rav Katz was Niftar from COVID-19. The Niftar prepared thousands of Chasanim for their weddings with his classic Sefer Ohel Aryeh (among many others). He was a well-known Posek, as he led his Shul “Zichron Yosef” in Boro Park for decades. His Sefer Ohel Aryeh is one of the best known seforim on the all-important halachos of Taharas Hamishpachah. He was a Talmid Muvhak of Hagaon HaRav Yaakov Kaminetzky ZATZAL. Additional information to follow. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

As physicians who are שומרי תורה ומצוות and on the frontlines of the active COVID-19 pandemic, we implore all fellow Jews to continue strict adherence to isolation guidelines WITHOUT exceptions. Our Jewish communities require unique consideration and are at higher risk for rapid disease transmission. We live in close knit, multigenerational and interconnected communities with frequent overlapping contact in our religious commitments and in our neighborhoods, shuls, schools, and shops. הלכה has never looked towards government guidelines alone as a measure for נפשות סכנת. Government guidelines consider political factors, financial impacts, and enforcement capabilities.