Posek Hador HaGaon HaRav Moshe Shternbuch spoke about the earthquake in Turkey after his shiur klali this week. At the beginning of his words, HaRav Shternbuch brought the words of the Navi Zecharya who prophesized that the houses in Jerusalem will be destroyed even before milchamas Gog U’Magog.

In a rare handwritten letter, Rav Gershon Edelstein shlit”a implored Yidden to accept changes upon themselves in the wake of recent tragedies and terror attacks that have befallen individuals and families in Eretz Yisroel. In the letter, the revered rosh yeshiva writes that the devastating earthquake in Turkey was a message to Am Yisrael to wake up, as Chazal state that all bad things that happen in the world are intended to be a message for Klal Yisroel. Additionally, he writes that the murder of multiple yidden in recent terror attacks compels us to increase our zechusim and beseech Hashem for the injured. “While we don’t know the cheshbon of Hashem, it is our duty to search our actions and correct them,” Rav Gershon writes.

A van with 12 Lubavitch yeshivah bochurim overturned into a deep ditch on Monday night and one bochur was seriously injured. The bochurim, from Yeshivas Chayolei Beis Dovid in Poconos, Pennsylvania were returning from a trip to the Rebbe’s kever in New York. The accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. The bochurim were evacuated via helicopters to local hospitals. One bochur was seriously injured and is in need of tefillos. The rest of the bochurim were injured to varying degrees. The public is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of Shneur Zalman Hakohen ben Elisheva b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.

On Monday evening, an Israeli border patrol officer was killed in a stabbing attack at a checkpoint near the entrance of the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem. The officer and a civilian security guard were conducting a routine inspection of passengers entering the city when a 13-year-old Palestinian terrorist pulled out a knife. The terrorist managed to stab the officer and wound him. The civilian security guard then opened fire inside the bus, but accidentally hit the Border Police officer. The officer, in his 20s, was taken to Hadassah Hospital in critical condition. Doctors attempted to resuscitate the officer but were unsuccessful. The officer killed in the attack has been identified as Staff Sgt. Asil Su’ad, 22, from the northern Bedouin village of Hosniyeh.

Following the diagnosis of the Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the bochurim of Yeshivas Slabodka have taken on a special kabbalah for the zechus of his recovery. All the members of the yeshivah have accepted upon themselves to learn two halachos a day in Sefer Chofetz Chaim and be mechazeik in Shemiras Halashon. In a rare step, Rosh Yeshivah HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau also wrote a letter to the bnei yeshivah calling on them to take part in the initiative. HaRav Landau was also the first one to sign a committment to the chizzuk program initiated by the bochurim, and was joined by all the Rabbanim of the yeshivah. The public is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel ben Mindel b’toch shaar cholei Yisrael. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The city of New York, famously known as the “Big Apple,” is facing a growing crisis regarding its handling of asylum seekers. On Monday, the situation escalated when over a hundred asylum seekers who had been housed at a Midtown hotel, The Watson Hotel, set up an encampment outside rather than move to a new impromptu shelter arranged by Mayor Eric Adams. This encampment is the latest development in the city’s ongoing struggle to accommodate the sudden surge in asylum seekers in recent months. Residents of the area are already complaining about the situation, with one single mother telling DailyMail.com that she feels compelled to carry pepper spray just to make it through the crowded and rowdy area to get to her home across the street.

Panic spread among the residents of the central Israeli city of Ramat Hasharon when they heard what sounded like gunfire on Monday morning. Numerous residents frantically called the police and reported a shooting attack. In a video of the incident, a woman can be heard yelling: “They’re shooting, call the police! I’m videoing it! Hurry! Bring me the phone!” Police quickly arrived at the scene and fortunately, it turned out that the “shooting” was part of some type of prank carried out by two 18-year-old residents of the city. “This morning, the police hotline received many reports from citizens about hearing gunshots in Ramat Hasharon,” a statement from the police said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he is taking “responsibility” for the recent deadly terror attack in Jerusalem that resulted in seven deaths. He says at the start of his Otzma Yehudit political party’s meeting in the Knesset that the attack happened under his watch and he is not avoiding responsibility. He requests the police to compile a list of targets and gather intelligence with the aim of collecting weapons from neighborhood to neighborhood. If that isn’t possible, they will create a list of targets and intelligence. Ben Gvir also commits to re-introducing legislation to impose the death penalty for terrorists, stating that anyone who kills, injures, or slaughters civilians should face the electric chair. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Former president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump said that he trusts Russian President V Vladimir Putin more than he does the “intelligence lowlifes” of the Pentagon. Referencing a joint press conference with the Russian mass murderer in which he openly questioned the assessment that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, Trump reiterated that he trusts Putin more than America’s intelligence. “Remember in Helsinki when a 3rd rate reporter asked me, essentially, who I trusted more, President Putin of Russia, or our “Intelligence” lowlifes,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

House Republicans are moving Tuesday to swiftly establish the marquee investigations of their new majority, voting to create panels focused on China and what they assert is rampant abuse of power in the federal government. Newly empowered, GOP lawmakers are vowing to bring accountability to the Biden administration, pledging to investigate federal law enforcement agencies, including those that are conducting probes into former President Donald Trump. Republicans are also establishing a committee to investigate “strategic competition” between the U.S. and China, in line with the party’s push for a more hardline approach to the Asian nation.