The tail end of Storm Daniel which brought severe flooding to Greece and Libya – where the death toll from severe flooding has surpassed 5,100 – reached Israel on Wednesday morning, leading to unseasonal rainfall and a significant drop in temperatures across the country. Heavy rain fell in the Gush Dan area, the Sharon, and in the south of the country. Sinkholes opened on streets in the central cities of Holon and Hertziliya due to the rain but Baruch Hashem, no one was injured. The police closed the roads and diverted traffic from the area. In Bnei Brak, a large tree fell and the road was blocked to traffic, and in Ramat Gan, near the Ayalon Mall, a traffic light bent and almost collapsed. In Kfar Qassem, a car sank in a flood and the passengers had to be rescued.

The Peleg Yerushalmi (Eitz) sector held protests in three cites on Wednesday evening over the arrest of a yeshivah bochur from Ponevezh due to draft dodging. Following the arrest, Peleg Yerushalmi issued an announcement that it will be holding protests in three cities. “In light of the criminal arrest of the prisoner of the Torah world, Rabbeinu Maran HaGaon Harav Asher Deitsch has instructed us to go out and protest and make noise around the world about the arrest of a talmid yeshivah who did not show up at the conscription office as a protest against the conscription law.” “The protests are planned for today at 4:30 p.m.

An escaped murderer was captured Wednesday after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks, bringing relief to anxious residents of southeastern Pennsylvania who endured sleepless nights as he hid in the woods, broke into suburban homes for food, changed his appearance, and fled under gunfire with a rifle pilfered from a garage, authorities said. Authorities used thermal imaging from aircraft to pinpoint a possible location and then used ground forces to capture escaped inmate Danelo Souza Cavalcante, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, which played out over several hours. State police announced Cavalcante’s capture on social media on Wednesday, as the search entered its 14th day.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had a years-long friendship with Dedi Graucher, z’tl, who was niftar on Monday, was maspid him at the levaya. “We’re parting today, in deep pain, from Dedi, a warm Jew, a loving husband, a loving father, a loving grandfather, a talented singer, a close and beloved friend of mine and my wife Sara and our two sons, a close and beloved friend of everyone here and of many many others here and around the world,” Netanyahu began. “Dedi lit up our lives with his light, he had a sharp sense of Jewish humor, a great neshama, and all these attributes touched us. Dedi knew how to bring laughter to the world. Dedi would enter the room and before he said a word, I would smile.

Weeks of planning, meetings and preparations in Moldova culminated this week when thousands of passengers are expected to land at the international airport in Chisinau and make their way to the border between Moldova and Ukraine. About 80% of the Jews traveling to spend Rosh Hashanah in Uman will pass through Moldova. The local Jewish community, led by the country’s chief rabbi, HaRav Pinchas Salzman, is working to help thousands of people together with the Ministry of Jerusalem and Tradition. In recent months, many meetings took place between members of the Moldovan Jewish kehilla and Moldovan officials, including airport, border, and customs officials.

Two Israelis were injured in a shooting attack at an intersection on Route 60 near Huwara on Tuesday evening. The terrorists shot at an Israeli car from their passing vehicle and then fled the scene. The victims were lightly injured on their heads from shattered glass and b’chasdei Hashem did not suffer any direct hits from the bullets. They were treated at the scene by MDA paramedics and evacuated in a mobile intensive unit to Beilson Hospital in Petach Tikvah. IDF forces launched a manhunt after the terrorists. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

B’Chadrei Chareidim reporter Lipa Ginsburger wrote a moving tribute to singer Dedi Graucher, z’l, who passed away on Monday. Ginsburger wrote: “Dedi, z’l, told me, bursting into bitter tears: ‘I was zocheh and HaKadosh Baruch Hu helped me to assist many people but now it’s difficult for me.” “It was two months ago,” Ginsburger continued. “Dedi returned home after a long and difficult hospitalization during which he hovered between life and death. I was zocheh to bring him a present that touched him deeply, a new sefer I published – Da’as Ramchal – a collection of pearls from dozens of Sifrei Ramchal – a sefer written at his inspiration, from the koach of one of his moving songs, a song from which, by the way, his family also parted from him by his bedside during his final hours.

An unprecedented 15-judge panel on Tuesday began deliberating petitions against the reasonableness law passed by the Knesset in July. The debate marks the first time in Israel’s history that a full panel of Supreme Court judges are deliberating a case – that is another historic first – invalidating one of Israel’s Basic Laws. The vast majority of legal scholars believe that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to invalidate a Basic Law and doing so risks sending Israel into a constitutional crisis. The chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, told the court that it has no right to interfere with a Basic Law: “The Knesset has the right to establish Basic Laws, in line with the will of the people,” he said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams doubled down on his concerns on Sunday, warning of an imminent “financial tsunami” that he believes will be triggered by the ongoing migrant crisis in the city. In an interview with PIX 11’s “PIX on Politics,” Adams expressed his candid assessment of the looming financial crisis, asserting that New York City was not equipped to handle the influx of approximately 10,000 people each month indefinitely. He stressed that such a scenario would undermine the city’s overall stability. The mayor refused to backtrack on his previous controversial assertion that the ongoing crisis would “destroy” the city.

President Joe Biden commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Monday at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, during which he recalled “looking at the building” as he stood at Ground Zero the next day. The problem? He was in Washington, D.C. on 9/12/01, not New York City. “I join you on this solemn day to renew our sacred vow, ‘never forget,” Biden said. “I remember standing [at Ground Zero] the next day and looking at the building. I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell.” The Senate was in session on 9/12/01, and Joe Biden voted at 1:45 pm on a resolution condemning the attacks after speaking on the floor. He wasn’t in New York; just tack this statement on his growing mountain of lies.