Two NYPD horses were seen running wild through the streets of Flatbush on Thursday. It happened when an NYPD Officer had a medical issue at the corner of Quentin Road and East 8th Street. Flatbush Hatzolah was called to the scene and was treating him, while another officer who was riding a second horse was holding both horses. Suddenly, something spooked the horses, prompting them both to gallop away at full speed. After a brief pursuit by NYPD, both horses were apprehended. The officer was transported by Flatbush Hatzolah to the hospital in stable condition. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Today, Andrew Yang, Democratic candidate for Mayor of NYC, announced the appointment of David Schwartz as Yang for NY’s Jewish Community Outreach Director. Schwartz, a Democratic District Leader for New York State’s 48th Assembly District, is also First Vice Chair to the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee, one of the largest Democratic committees in the country. In 2016, Schwartz became Brooklyn’s youngest District Leader after winning his election, running on a platform of getting more residents more politically engaged and building diverse coalitions within the borough. Schwartz has also been a strong voice against all hate crimes and for speaking out against anti-Semitism – priorities for a Yang administration. “I’m incredibly excited to join Andrew Yang’s campaign for mayor.

Senior Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s assassination in November was carried out by a Mossad team via a one-ton remote-controlled gun that had been smuggled into Iran in pieces, the London-based Jewish Chronicle (JC) reported on Wednesday. The 20 members of the “hit-team,” comprised of both Israeli and Iranian nationals, prepared for the fateful moment over eight months of “painstaking surveillance.” The report said it has confirmed through “intelligence sources” that the Mossad was behind the hit, which was carried out by mounting the one-ton gun on a Nissan pickup. “The bespoke weapon, operated remotely by agents on the ground as they observed the target, was so heavy because it included a bomb that destroyed the evidence after the killing,” the report said.

As Israel’s vaccination drive slows down to a crawl, with vaccination centers sitting empty in recent days, the city of Bnei Brak decided to offer an incentive to city residents who show up to be vaccinated on Thursday night – a yeshivah bochur’s dream – free cholent. Vaccination centers in Bnei Brak will stay open until midnight on Thursday and cholent and snacks will be offered. Only 17% of the resident of Bnei Brak have received the first dose of the vaccine and 9% have received both doses, according to Health Ministry data. Optica Halperin, a popular optical chain in Israel, recently published an advertisement offering a free pair of frames to anyone who was fully vaccinated. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Vizhnitzer yeshivah bochurim received a message on Wednesday morning from the Rebbe’s shamash to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. “I spoke to the Rebbe regarding vaccinations for the yeshivah bochurim,” stated a special message from the shamash Rav Shaul Greenberger. “The Rebbe expressed his opinion that the bochurim be vaccinated, that this is the ‘tzav ha’shaah’ of the fulfillment of mitzvas ‘v’nishmartem meod l’nafshoseichim’ – that one shouldn’t be harmed or harm others.” It should be noted that with the start of Israel’s vaccination campaign, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe instructed his chassidim to be vaccinated, which he said is a “chov kadosh.” The new instruction on Wednesday was directed at the younger bochurim.

Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said on Tuesday that he’s extremely concerned that Purim could lead to a new coronavirus outbreak in the Chareidi sector. Ash, in an online press briefing, said that although the infection rate in Chareidi communities has been declining, it is still very high, with tests showing an almost 20% positivity rate, more than double than that of the general population. Ash added that 90% of Chareidim diagnosed with the coronavirus are carrying the British variant. “We’re nearing the month of Adar but this year we need to rejoice differently while preserving kedushas haChaim,” Ash said. “We recall with great pain what happened last Purim and the most recent outbreak in the Chareidi sector is the result of gatherings on Chanukah.

The NYC Sherriff is dismissing all fines levied against Houses of Worship for violating the Governors Executive Orders in red and orange zones, NYC Councilman Kalman Yeger tells YWN. The decision comes a day after a Federal Judge ruled that Cuomo’s restrictions were unconstitutional. “The United States Constitution is the true victor here”, Yeger told YWN. “From the very beginning, the Executive Orders improperly targeted religious observance and discriminated against a small group of New Yorkers. It’s a shame the fight had to go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but religious freedom prevailed, as I was always confident it would.

Avraham Bodman, z’l, of the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem, passed away on Wednesday at Shaarei Tzedek hospital at the young age of 36 due to complications of the coronavirus, sadly before he merited to marry and raise a family. The niftar’s friends from his shul claim that his death could have been avoided, placing the blame on the spreaders of “fake news” regarding the vaccine against COVID-19. “With great sorrow, we inform you of the death of our dear friend due to complications of the coronavirus, Avraham, z’l, who greeted everyone cheerfully despite his difficult life, and frequented the beis medrash,” an email to the mispallelim of the Mishkan Shraga shul stated.

YWN regrets to inform you of the petirah of HaRav Sheftel Neuberger, zt’l, Sheftel Meir ben Naftoli Halevi, President of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel. Rav Sheftel, z’tl, has been sick for the past year. Rav Neuberger was the son of Rav Naftali Neuberger, z’tl, president of Ner Yisroel for many years. Following Rav Naftali’s death in 2005, Rav Sheftel succeeded his father as president. Rav Sheftel’s devotion to the yeshiva and the Baltimore community as a whole was legendary. He was one of the most well-known and beloved figures in Baltimore’s frum community. He was also famed for his beautiful and inspiring tefillos as a ba’al tefillah. Many people flocked to Ner Yisrael for the Yamim Noraim just to hear Rav Sheftel serve as the Ba’al Tefilloh.

One out of 100 Chareidim over 60 in Israel have died of the coronavirus, Prof. Eran Segal, a computational biologist at Weizmann Institute, told Israel’s coronavirus cabinet on Monday. The number is staggering in comparison to the general population in Israel, in which one in 350 people over 60 have died of the coronavirus. In the Arab sector, one out of every 140 people over age 60 died of the coronavirus. “If the infection rate in the general sector was similar to the rate in the Chareidi sector, there would have been a possible 7,600 additional fatalities in the over 60 age group,” Segal said. Segal added that 93% of coronavirus fatalities in Israel occurred in the above 60 age group. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)