Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years. McConnell, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, was walking out of his weekly party lunch with Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso when he tripped and fell, Barrasso said, before walking back to his office on his own. Medical personnel were seen heading into his office minutes later. The longtime Republican leader, 82, also has a cut on his face, his office said, but “has been cleared to resume his schedule.” He did not attend a scheduled news conference immediately after the luncheon. Barrasso, the No.

HaRav Dovid Yosef on Wednesday was inaugurated as the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel at the Yochanan Ben Zakai shul in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, where all inaugurations of Chief Rabbanim take place. HaRav Dovid’s brother, HaRav Avraham Yosef, and HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Betzalel, placed the turban worn by HaRav Yosef’s illustrious father and former Chief Rabbi, HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, z’tl, on HaRav Dovid’s head to the sounds of shofar blasts. The main ceremony, which will be broadcast live, will take place at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the presence of over 1,000 Rabbanim and public figures.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman The recent op-ed discussing financial disparities in our community raises important questions about responsibility and communal standards. While the author asks “Why is the burden to ‘tone down’ placed almost exclusively on those who have been blessed with material success?” and suggests that “the responsibility not [be] shared more evenly,” Our mesorah  actually does provide some guidance on this matter. The Gemorah in Moed Katan (27a-b) relates how Rabban Gamliel HaZaken directly addresses=d this issue. Seeing how burial expenses had become so burdensome that families would abandon their dead, Rabban Gamliel ordered across the board simple linen garments.

Dutch police said Tuesday that they have arrested three suspects who might have been involved in the explosion and fire that killed six people in an apartment building in The Hague over the weekend. Authorities had said they were investigating “all possibilities” that could have caused the disaster, and the arrests indicate there might have been a criminal intent. “More arrests are not excluded,” The Hague police said in a statement. It didn’t elaborate on any reason for the arrests and said the three were seen as “possibly implicated in the explosion.” Police also seized several vehicles, but they said that it was unclear whether they included the one which was seen driving away at high speed from the site shortly after the explosion.

As President-elect Donald Trump assembles his administration, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him carry out his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. Lawmakers in a growing number of states are proposing to give local law officers the power to arrest people who entered the country illegally, mirroring recent laws in Texas and elsewhere that have been placed on hold while courts weigh whether they unconstitutionally usurp federal authority.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is conscious and recovering in an intensive-care unit after undergoing unplanned surgery for an intracranial hemorrhage, doctors from the Sirio-Libanes hospital in Sao Paulo said on Tuesday. The procedure was performed after the 79-year-old leftist leader suffered complications resulting from a fall at home in October, doctors said. “He is in a stable condition, talking normally and eating. He will remain under observation for the next few days,” Dr. Roberto Kalil told a press conference. There will be no after effects, doctors said, adding that Lula expected to return to the capital Brasilia at the beginning of next week. In the meantime, he will not be working, they said.

An apartment building collapsed on Tuesday in Egypt’s capital, killing at least eight people, authorities said. The Health Ministry said in a statement that the collapse of the six-story building in Cairo’s western neighborhood of Waili also injured three people, who were hospitalized. Cairo’s governor, Ibrahim Saber, ordered the evacuation of neighboring houses as a precautionary measure, according to a statement from the governor’s office. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the building, which was constructed in the 1960s, to collapse. The governor’s office said that prosecutors were investigating. Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas.

Many Jews in Israel of Syrian origin, along with Syrians throughout the world, rejoiced in the fall of the brutal 54-year Assad regime that began with the cruel iron-fisted rule of President Hafez al-Assad in 1971 and continued with his son Bashar’s ascent to power in 2000. Yaffa Levy told Ynet that she could feel the heavy burden her father, Marco (Mordechai) Khalifa, carried for the rest of his life after enduring the cruelty of the Assad regime. “It’s a shame my father isn’t here to witness this meaningful closure,” she said. “My father was born into a wealthy family in Syria. They owned a nigella seed factory and lived well. His name was Mordechai Cohen, but he changed it to Marco Khalifa to hide his Jewish identity from Muslims.

As I sit down to write this on Thursday night, shortly after the Parnasa session at the Agudah convention concluded, I find myself grappling with a deep and nuanced question raised by Naftali Horowitz’s heartfelt plea. For those who missed it, he passionately implored us to be mindful of those with less means than ourselves. His message was clear and well-meaning: our actions and spending habits should take into account the potential hurt they may cause to others who struggle financially. While his sentiment is admirable, I believe there is a critical point that deserves more attention—one that wasn’t fully explored. Why is the burden to “tone down” placed almost exclusively on those who have been blessed with material success?

The nonprofit organization JewBelong has launched a new billboard campaign near major U.S. airports to raise awareness about antisemitism during the holiday travel season. Starting Monday, billboards reading, “If you think turbulence is scary, try wearing a Jewish star,” were placed near Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The campaign, projected to reach an estimated 19 million travelers, comes in response to a troubling trend. The Anti-Defamation League reported December 2023 as the worst month for antisemitic incidents last year.