In a historic announcement Sunday evening at the Mir dinner in Bell Works, renowned philanthropist R’ Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz announced that final touches are being put on a plan to raise the checks of Mir yungerleit by a whopping 20%. Raising the incomes of yungerleit has been a long-sought yet elusive objective, with the stunning and forbidding costs associated with it making it appear an impossibility. Yet, with the philanthropy of R’ Shlomo Yehuda and others, including R’ Ralph Herzka, this objective is now nearly reached. As part of its thanks and recognition to R’ Shlomo Yehuda and R’ Ralph, the Mir gifted the great baalei tzedaka with sifrei Torah, a testament to the incredible philanthropic efforts they have invested into the yeshiva.

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating a Friday night attack on a Hasidic man in Brooklyn. Around 7:55 p.m., the 21-year-old victim was walking along Gerry Street near Harrison Avenue when the suspects approached him before punching and kicking him to the ground in an unprovoked attack, authorities said. The victim had absolutely no interaction with the teens before they ran up and attacked. The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating. Late Shabbos afternoon, the NYPD said that one 16 year old suspect was taken into custody. The individuals are described as follows: Individual #1: Male, dark complexion with a thin build. He was last seen wearing a blue winter jacket, a black hood sweatshirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Israel’s Channel 12 News spoke with Naama Yechezkel, the almanah of Hakodesh Reb Avishai Yechezkel, hy’d, who was murdered in front of their home as he shielded his two-year-old son from the terrorists’ gunfire. Naama, who was left alone in her eighth month of pregnancy, expressed incredible emunah.  “We’re not scared of the difficult questions,” she said. “Yes, I ask Hashem, ‘Hashem, why do I deserve this? Why my husband?’ But at the same time, there’s emunah. Hashem is a merciful father. We’re allowed to be angry at Him. He knows that we get angry at him. And we’ll cry.

At a private Mar-a-Lago reception with Donald Trump,  the former president spoke and discussed his tremendous support for Israel and his firm opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. He asked Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz if he had any questions, with the shliach responding that he would like to give the president a gift of Shmura Matza. Joking that the rabbi “looks innocent,” Trump instructed his Secret Service agents to accept the gift on his behalf and thanked Rabbi Minkowicz publicly for it. Shliach Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz shared with attendees John Gibbs, Cofey Anderson and many others at the event about the mitzvah of shmura matzah and its importance to Yiddishkeit. Dr.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, said this week that we never know whether the lockdowns imposed on Americans in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic were “worth it.” “You know, I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to determine what the right balance is,” Fauci said on BBC when asked if the lockdowns were “worth it” or “too severe.” “I think the restrictions – if you want to use that word, which I tend to shy away from, lockdown – they certainly prevented a lot of infections, prevented a lot of hospitalizations, and prevented a lot of deaths. There’s no doubt about that,” he claimed. He did, however, acknowledge that with the lockdowns came many “unintended negative consequences,” particularly among children who were unable to attend school.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was awarded the Crown of Israel award from the Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF) at a ceremony in Manhattan on Sunday. An Arutz Sheva reporter spoke with Pompeo, asking him about the outrageous statements made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday, shortly before the murderous terror attack in Hadera. Blinken made no mention of Palestinian Arab violence, instead admonishing Israel about “settler violence” and pushing Israel to stop enforcing demolition of illegal Arab buildings and evicting Arabs from land owned by Jews. Blinken also spoke out against settlement expansion and boasted that the US has increased its humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, totaling half a billion dollars since April of 2021.

The city of Dania Beach, Florida, shut down a Jewish food distribution site which has been operating since June 2020. The organizer of the kosher food bank, Dovi Katz, says he serves 4,000 children and 1,500 families a week across Florida. “What’s going to happen [is] they won’t be getting food this week,” he told Local10 News. The city government sent a notice to the food bank last week that read: “Your special event application will be revoked immediately due to life safety and traffic concerns expressed by the Broward Sheriff’s office.” The Broward Sheriff’s Office denied being responsible for revoking the permit, instead blaming the Dania Beach government.

Two bochurim walking in the area of McDonald Avenue and Ave. M in Flatbush were attacked by a group of cowardly thugs passing them in a vehicle on Tuesday night. The bochurim said they were walking on McDonald when two vehicles, a Mazda and BMW, drove by, with the occupants of the BMW shouting slurs at the teens before someone in the car apparently fired a BB gun at them and then threw an unidentified object at the boys, which hit one of them in the head. Thankfully, neither boy was injured in the incident. The bochurim noted that the occupants of the Mazda were videoing the entire incident as it occurred. Flatbush Shomrim and the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit are now investigating the incident. A gray Mazda CX-9 and a white BMW X7 are being searched for as part of the investigation.

The Chief Rabbi of South Africa,, Rabbi Warren Goldstein delivered a Hesped on the Petira of the Gadol Hador, Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Zt”l. The Hesped was held at Ohr Somayach in Johannesburg. Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein is the Chief Rabbi of The Union of Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa since 2005. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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The last public event attended by the Gadol HaDor, HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, was the Dirshu siyum of the second cycle of the Day Yomi in Halacha which was held at the Arena in Jerusalem on February 24, 2022. HaRav Chaim, z’tl was extremely weak toward the end of his life but he made a great effort to attend the siyum since he had participated in the Dirshu siyumim for many years likvodo shel Torah. The hundreds of attendants stood up and sang enthusiastically in the Gadol HaDor’s honor when HaRav Chaim, z’tl, was wheeled into the hall by his son and grandson, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Shaul and Reb Yanky.