(By: Sandy Eller) As the uncertainty regarding COVID-19 continues to swirl amid an uptick in confirmed cases in recent days and fear of a second wave of the virus and schools reopening, Rav Elya Brudny, Rosh Yeshiva of the Mirrer Yeshiva, delivered a strong directive as to the need to remain vigilant about masks and personal safety as the pandemic continues. Speaking at an August 30th event hosted by Relief Resources, the leading Orthodox mental health referral agency, Rabbi Brudny addressed the need to send a clear chinuch message to our children by observing the Torah commandment of shielding ourselves from danger, and complying with laws even when doing so may seem inconvenient, as we are a nation of rule followers. “Conceptually we’re mask wearers,” said Rabbi Brudny, adding.

Elli’s Kosher Kitchen, the United Arab Emirates’ only kosher food establishment, received an OU hechsher prior to the visit of the Israel-US delegation to the United Arab Emirates this week. As YWN reported, Rav Yissachar Dov Krakowski, the head of OU Israel, was flown in by the UAE to oversee the preparation of kosher food for the US-Israeli delegation. Elli Kriel of Elli’s Kosher Kitchen partnered with OU Israel in preparing the food. Kriel’s business was certified by OU to serve the food to the delegation this week and she will receive a permanent OU certification in October when she moves her business to its own premises.

Following the letter sent by Coronavirus Commissioner Ronni Gamzu to the Ukrainian government, as well as his comments regarding the statement about Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky yesterday, the MKs from the UTJ party got together and sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking him to intervene and stop Gamzu from constantly attacking the Charedi community. “Ever since his appointment as Coronavirus Commissioner, Professor Ronni Gamzu has given off the sensation that instead of coming to combat the virus and work on healing the public, he is more occupied with creating subversive headlines, and making comments against the Chareidi public,” the letter stated.

In a tweet slamming the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei singled out Jared Kushner as “the Jewish member of Trump’s family.” “The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures,” Khamenei bemoaned. “Then, the UAE acts in agreement with the Israelis and filthy Zionist agents of the US — such as the Jewish member of Trump’s family — with utmost cruelty against the interests of the World of Islam.” “The UAE betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab nations, the region’s countries, and Palestine. Of course, this betrayal won’t last long,” Khamenei threatened. The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE acts in agreement with the Israelis & filthy Zionist agents of the U.S.

On Thursday evening, the Coronavirus Cabinet of the Israeli government issued a decree that all “red” cities according to the recent traffic-light-initiative would be placed under full lockdown as of Monday. The lockdown will last for one week and is a last-ditch effort by the government to slow the Coronavirus down before the Yomim Nora’im. 31 Cities and towns across the country, mostly with either predominant Arab, Druze, or Chareidi populace, fall into the category of being a red city where the spread of the virus has spiked in recent weeks. Prime Minister Netanyahu explained the reasoning behind the move. “For an entire month, we had a high – even very high – but stable level of morbidity. In recent days there has been an increase, and a very dramatic increase yesterday.

Researchers at Hebrew University and Hadassah submitted a report to the coronavirus cabinet on Thursday that stated that there will be at least 600 seriously ill patients in another two weeks, putting Israel’s health system at risk of collapsing. “Since the beginning of June, there hasn’t been a significant decrease in the number of new daily patients,” the report said. “The death rate is steeper and significantly higher than during the first wave.” “It will not be possible to prevent a collapse of health services as defined in the past. Preparations must be made for the realization of the worst scenario. The current risk requires decisive action.” Prof.

U.S. equity markets tumbled Thursday after Dr. Anythony Fauci dashed hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine was coming soon, contradicting documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fauci told CNN a vaccine was unlikely to be ready by the end of October. In a serparate interview with NBC News’ Today, Fauci said a vaccine was likely by the end of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 700 points, or 2.6%, with Microsoft leading the decline. STAY WITH YWN WHATSAPP FOR BREAKING UPDATES IN LIVE TIME!  YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be dded to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel’s Health Ministry recorded a new record of 3,074 daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, the first time that over 3,000 daily cases have been diagnosed. There are currently 23,938 active cases, with 426 in serious condition, of whom 124 are ventilated. Israel’s coronavirus cabinet is convening on Thursday and coronavirus czar Prof. Ronni Gamzu is reportedly requesting a general lockdown on eight “red cities” and a nighttime curfew in all red cities. A list of 23 red areas, mostly Arab, was published by the Health Ministry on Tuesday, and new areas will reportedly be added to the list during the meeting, including Elad and the Arab city of Nazareth. The other areas on the list are Arab areas, including twelve neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

A Chareidi couple was chosen to be the first emissaries to the Jewish community of Dubai by the World Zionist Organization (WZO). The appointment follows the historic normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and the visit of the Israeli-US delegation to Abu Dhabi. The WZO  made the appointment at the request of the heads of the Jewish community in the UAE and the Orthodox Union (OU). The couple, Yaakov and Zalti Eisenstein, will establish and manage a Jewish kindergarten, conduct classes and lectures on Jewish traditions, establish a Hebrew language study program, and organize community events. The Eisensteins will be part of the “Ben Ami” emissary project run by the Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora at the WZO.

Following a directive that came from Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky telling Roshei Yeshivos that yeshiva students should stop being tested for coronavirus because it could lead to “mass Bitul Torah”, Coronavirus Commissioner Ronni Gamzu, chastised the Gadol Hador, and said that his words could “endanger the Chareidi public”. Rav Kanievsky was reportedly worried about the testing causing masses of students to be put in isolation until after Yom Kippur which would cause a massive amount of Bitul Torah. Recent statistics have shown that there has been a large spike in the number of Chareidim who have contracted the virus, especially in Yeshivos. One Yeshiva in Carmiel had 200 students test positive for the virus on Tuesday.