Donations for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral after it was severely damaged by a fire Monday are already nearing $1 billion, according to the Associated Press.
In only 1.5 days, contributions have reached 880 million euros, or $995 million, according to presidential cultural heritage envoy Stephane Bern. The French government is in the process of establishing a special office to handle larger donations, according to the AP.
Donors thus far have ranged from large corporations like Apple and the owners of L’Oreal, Chanel and Dior to local parishioners and residents of small and midsized French towns, according to the news service.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s declared that the ancient cathedral will be completely repaired within five years.

As Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community await the publication of the American peace plan, it is clear, based on PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ behavior in previous peace talks, that nothing the United States can offer will be enough.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who was present at the negotiations between then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas in 2008, recently told PA TV how generous Olmert’s offer was on all final status issues. In fact, he said, Olmert accepted all of the PA’s publicly expressed demands and even offered Abbas more than the full area of the West Bank and Gaza, and yet Abbas still rejected the offer.

By Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt
Director, Halachah & Medicine Commission
Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim

There is a small, yet very vocal and influential group of “anti-vaxxers” living in our heimishecommunities. While I am not questioning their love for their children, they are making a tremendous chillul Hashem and putting all Jews at great risk, both from measles, and rachmana leztlan, anti-semitism. I plead that everyone read this critically important pikuach nefashos article.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said Monday that he will fight President Trump in court over Trump’s plan to send undocumented immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities like New York.
“It’s illegal. It is just plain illegal. We will meet him in court. We will beat him in court,” de Blasio said in an interview with NY1.
Trump argued Saturday that he has the legal right to send migrants to sanctuary cities — areas where local authorities refuse to help federal officials in enforcing immigration laws.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

This isn’t just a computer bug. It’s a scandal.
WATCH:

Normalizing relations with Israel breaks with the Koran and Islamic faith, Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a Quran competition in Tehran, Khamenei blasted “certain Islamic nations” that are not, according to him, adhering to Muslim principles.
“The Quran says, ‘Be stern with the disbelievers.’ Some Muslims forget that, like those Muslim countries that compromise with the US and the Zionists… today, the officials of many Muslim states represent examples of that,” he added.
“They have become servants and followers of America and the Zionists,” he said, according to state-run news outlets. Some were “colluding with Israelis to shed the blood of Palestinians and violate their rights.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett conceded that he had lost his Knesset seat and that the New Right party had failed to clear the electoral threshold.
“I did the best I could for my beloved people,” Bennett wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening after the Central Elections Committee found that the New Right had gained less than 50 votes in the latest recount and remained over 1,400 votes shy of the electoral threshold.
“After six years of kosher service, 100 campaign days and another week of struggle for every voice, I can say: I did the best I could for the people of Israel, my beloved nation,” Bennett said.
“This time it was not enough.
“I have no complaints to anyone. I and I alone are responsible for the result.

Rockland County officials this morning announced a “Communicable Disease and Exposure Exclusion Order” that mandates anyone with measles to stay home, and those exposed stay out of public spaces throughout the county, LoHud reports.
The new offensive was unveiled by County Executive Ed Day and Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert on the same day the county announced there have been 186 confirmed measles cases since the outbreak began in October. Ruppert also said she is sure there have been more cases that the county cannot verify.

Bais Medrash Govoha is under contract to buy Woodlake Country Club, according to a notice filed with the Ocean County Clerk on March 20.
The document signals the sale of the 150-acre golf course at 25 New Hampshire Ave. is in the early stages and does not guarantee the land will change hands, according to Ocean County Clerk Scott M. Colabella.
“We are exploring the possibility of developing a campus that could help us accommodate future growth without drawing more commuters up and down the Route 9 corridor that runs through the heart of Lakewood,” BMG President Rabbi Aaron Kotler told Asbury Park Press.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she has given up Facebook and expressed concerns about the negative effects of social media platforms in general.
“I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook and Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time,” the New York Democrat said in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast on Sunday.
Ocasio-Cortez said that she thinks, in general, “social media poses a public health risk to everybody.” She also said “there are amplified impacts for young people, particularly children under the age of 3 with screen time.”